Operation: Changes
by Supernaturel'Gate
Summary: A lab accident during a mission causes Marc to experience abnormal changes. When his behavior turns aggressive, Marc becomes a danger to his family and himself. It's up to Tony, Lee, and Megan to find a way to help him before they lose their brother forever.
1. Chapter 1: Tragedy Remembrance

_**Operation: Changes**_

It hurt. A lot.

It wasn't the fact that he got thrown through a giant brick wall but the fact that he was so weak against this… this monster.

His siblings, Tony, Lee, and Megan were all knocked out cold by the creature's brute strength, leaving Marc alone to fend for himself and defeat the enemy.

"HAHA! Little man, do you really think you can defeat me?" The monster said, pushing down the brick wall he had just thrown the 12-year-old through. Its feature became known to Marc when he stepped into the light of the lab; Sharp claws, red eyes, sword-like fangs, black fur covering its wolf-like muscular body, a sinister furry tail that had spikes at the end of it, a long black thick mane that could rival a lion's and two demon horns curving up the sides of its head.

It stood on its hind legs and laughed victoriously, "Lie still, pup! Then I wont have to put you down like I did your family!"

Marc shakily stood on his feet and glared at the monster, thinking of a plan to counteract its surprisingly fast speeds. It was only sheer luck that he hadn't broken a bone yet and a BLESSING that he was still conscious up to this point.

Marc took one step back and thought furiously.

None of this was suppose to happen.

It was just suppose to be a simple mission. Yes, just a simple mission assigned by Jerry; to capture and secure a strange creature that was released in a local genetics lab. Simple, right? Wrong. None of the spies' saw what was coming, they didn't know that the creature had the upper hand; they didn't know what it was capable of. And they especially didn't know that it was willing to kill anyone.

Marc will defiantly need to remind Jerry to tell them their missions in detail.

"Well? Little man?" The creature snarled, revealing sharp fangs, "Come at me!"

Marc shivered; for once in his life he was scared. But he wasn't supposed to be scared, not on a mission at least. He looked over at his unconscious siblings then looked around the lab, there just had to be something he could use… anything! His eyes scanned furiously and brainpower worked twice as much as it usually did, then it struck him. An idea. A plan to take this monster down for good. Marc smirked and ran towards the monster, forcing the horned creature into an attack position. The creature smirked as it readied its claws and prepared to attack, at the very last second Marc jumped onto the creature's shoulders and leapt, using its massive body for support.

Marc grabbed hold of a dangling light and began to swing himself; from that point on he swung from light to light like a monkey. Finally he landed on his target and prepared quickly, he froze solid when he heard the roar of the creature below him. "Come down, little man!" it roared sounding angrier by the second, "Come down so I can rip you to shreds!"

"Um, how about no." Marc sarcastically said as he walked across the platform he was on and searched for his grappling hook and laser pen. He took them out and aimed the grappling hook at a light across from him; he shot at it and quickly used his laser pen to secure the port of the light. Once it was melded to the ceiling Marc took in a breath and gasped, his balance broke when the ground below him began to shake. He looked around for the source of the shaking then went to the edge of the platform and stared boringly. That creature was hurling itself into the object he was standing on. "Come down, NOW!" It growled continuing to hit its body against the huge object. It won't give up, will it? He thought.

 _Crack!_ Marc flinched, what was that sound? _Crack!_ He looked more closely at the object and gasped, there was one flaw in his plan that he didn't see coming.

"GET DOWN HERE!" One small little detail he didn't bother to look over. "DAMN HUMAN! COME DOWN!" He had no idea he was standing on a glass tank filled with unknown chemicals.

 _Crack!_

Marc panicked. "Um, monster guy!" He didn't actually know the creature's name. "You have to stop or you'll break the tank!"

"NOT MY PROBLEM!" The creature howled, banging against the tank once again. _Crack!_

"That tank's filled with-"

"ALL I WANT IS MY FREEDOM! AND NO ONE IS GOING TO GET IN MY WAY!"

 _Crack! Ker-ack!_

"You'll get your freedom alright! Freedom of the dead! Be reasonable for once!"

 _Cr-cr-craack!_

Marc looked down at the tank one last time as the giant crack in it grew bigger, all it needed was one more push… one more and…

 **CRACK!**

Marc quickly jumped from the collapsing tank and flew down on his grappling hook; racing against time itself as the contents from the tank began to flow out like a rapid water stream.

He quickly grabbed hold of the creature's arms and they both began to fly into the air. Shifting his body weight, Marc circled the creature into the iron-based rope and tied it around his body. Marc took in a deep breath and whipped the sweat from his brow; the creature was finally captured and secured. It began to struggle in the iron ropes but to no avail it couldn't escape, it growled, snarled and roared in frustration.

"Sorry but this cord is made of pure iron," Marc said in a matter-of-factly way, "it's going to take a lot more than brute strength to break these binds."

Marc looked down and instantly regretted it, he had forgotten about his fear of heights and almost let go of the grip he had on his grappling hook. Forcing his eyes open, Marc scanned the ground below him, that strange blue chemical that was in the tank covered every inch of the lab; thankfully his siblings were on higher ground and didn't get drenched by the substance.

For a minute, Marc watched the endless sea of blue liquids and noticed that the concoction was glowing lightly. Marc wondered what kind of chemicals that the scientists of this lab made, but then figured he'd ask Jerry once the mission was over.

He looked back to the creature and said, "Well, why don't we call WOOHP and have them pick you up, okay?"

"NO!" The creature growled struggling in its binds even harder. "I WONT BE CONTAINED AGAIN! NOT AGAIN!"

Marc nearly toppled over. "Hey! Whoa! Watch it!" Marc shouted, "Or you'll drop us both!"

The creature didn't listen. It continued to thrash in its bindings until Marc's worst fears came true.

The cable broke and gravity was taking its toll on them, soon they both hit the ground below with a splash. Marc coughed and groaned painfully as the breath was knocked out of him. The teen huffed and trembled, he was soaked to the bone in whatever concoction this was. Marc felt his skin tingle as he got a good look at the glowing blue liquid that covered his body. He clicked his tongue in disgust and noticed a different taste burn his tongue. _Don't tell me... Did I swallow some of this...?_

Marc felt something flow down his throat as he stood up, and braced himself for the fury of the creature when he heard a deafening roar raise hell. The monster was covered in the blue chemical and on all fours, it wagged its body like a dog, shaking the essence off of him and growled at Marc.

"I'D RATHER DIE THAN GO BACK TO THAT LAB!" It snarled charging at Marc with unbelievable speeds. Before the boy could react, it had impacted into him and sent them crashing into yet another tank, Marc gagged as a different set of liquids drenched his skin and hair. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT THEY DID TO ME THERE?!"

Marc coughed and gagged. Between narrow eyes, he felt sprinkles of green liquid spots singe his face and burn his throat. This is dangerous, he thought. Too dangerous. Marc swallowed his unease and glared at the beast.

"Whoever 'they' are... what they did to you... you probably deserved it..." Marc felt every pore on his body tremble. "What you've done to me and my sibs... you don't deserve freedom..."

The creature narrowed his eyes at Marc and pressed down harder on his body causing Marc to whimper. The monster brought its face closer to Marc's and snarled, baring its dangerous set of fangs. Marc coughed and wheezed as he felt hot, angry breaths stab his face. "What do you know, little man? Your family is alive. Your life is still present. And you live comfortably with free will," the beast hissed through snarls. His horns radiated threatening heat as Marc thought that the creature was going to ram him through. "What do YOU have to complain about?"

 _Must get away..._ Marc heaved a breath and felt his skin burn and drizzle with sweat. "Complain...? Hardly. However, having something like you walk around and endanger lives outside these walls does make me uneasy."

The beast growled and inched even closer to Marc. It glared with terrible, bloodthirsty eyes, but Marc - even among the pain radiating through his body - tried desperately to match the monster's intimidation. Marc suddenly felt his fear levels rise when he stared into the monster's eyes. Yet, he tried to ignore it and hide the trembles that caressed his body.

"You belong in a cage..." Marc said before thinking.

The beast snapped and Marc wished, beyond anything else, that he could take back his words.

The monster roared and spat wildly. It raised its fists and claws and barrages the teenage spy in a mad flurry of attacks. Marc screamed out in pain, he tasted metallic flavors sting his tongue and felt - shockingly and uncomfortably - some of his vertebrae shift and break at the pressure of being punched and slashed into a shattered tank. Shards of glass pierced his skin and Marc forced down the remainder if his screams.

 _Please, help_. He thought, someone - anyone - help. There's no way any of his sibs were going to wake up in time.

The horned monster continued to beat up on the boy, snarling menacingly while slashing Marc with its claws. "I won't kill you boy..."

Multiple cuts opened up in the boy's skin as he felt the strange mix of glowing blue and green chemicals force their way into his bloodstream.

"BUT I'LL SURE AS HELL MAKE YOU _PRAY_ THAT I HAD!"

Marc held back a scream and whimpered, this was becoming too much to bare. He needed to get away. To run. To hide. To do anything to get away from this monster that was determined to make him suffer.

Then, all of a sudden, a pulse of strength filled Marc's body, giving him the one chance he needed. Without hesitation, he collided his fist with the creature's jaws. The monster howled in pain for a second and stumbled backwards, nursing its now broken jaw. Marc quickly got away from the horned beast and got out another gadget.

The monster turned back around to find Marc standing behind it with a gun looking object in his hand; he pulled the trigger on the gadget and closed his eyes. Suddenly, a blinding light consumed the room, blinding the creature's eyesight and making it howl and thrash about. "MY EYES! MY EYES!" It roared furiously, covering its eyes with its massive paws,"I CANT SEE!"

Marc took in a deep breath. That would keep the monster defenseless enough at least until WOOHP arrived…

"DAMN YOU… SHOW YOURSELF BOY!" Marc tensed up again but quickly relaxed. The monster couldn't see him, or even smell him because of the strange mix of concoctions and speaking of which, as soon as Jerry arrived he would have to tell him about this; just to be on the safe side. Marc didn't want to end up dying or growing a few extra more limbs because of an unintentional shower in dangerous chemicals.

He looked back at the monster and instantly his eyes grew wide. "Boy… I'll find you… I'll find you and kill you…" The creature snarled, unaware that it was clawing into a main electrician box. Marc began to run towards the creature, it didn't know what it was doing… it didn't know it was sticking its soaked claws into a highly electric system of very potent cords.

Marc didn't want this thing to die, but then another, more terrifying ideology struck his numb senses. Marc looked down at the wet floor - the liquid coated, super saturated and wet floor - and his brain worked a million times a second as he came to a very frightening conclusion: electricity travels through water - liquids - and the electrons charge to unnatural levels... and Marc himself, was in the territory of being shocked to unnatural levels. Meaning, automatic death.

Marc hitched a breath, mouth stretched open about to protest, and took a step towards the creature to stop him. And yet...

The beast yelled, "I'D RATHER DIE THEN BE STRIPPED OF MY FREEDOM AGAIN!"

He was too late and the beast achieved its wish _as Marc's entire world crumbled to pieces_.

Surges of pure, electronic energy ran through the wet ground and into Marc and the monster. They both screamed out in absolute pain, having blots of electricity traveling through their bodies. Marc struggled to breathe, his eyes went wide in terror. His chest tightened until he felt his lungs tie in knots.

The blood in his veins turned cold. Every pore on his skin screamed out in agony as the electricity violently ravaged through his thirteen year old body.

Marc felt darkness take over his vision as his mind became light as a feather and unknowing… it can't end like this… it can't…

Everything turned to nothing.

* * *

I'm awake I'm alive

Now I know what I believe inside

Now it's my time

I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life

Here, right now

I'll stand my ground and never back down

\- Awake and Alive, Skillet


	2. Chapter 2: Recovery Reunion

Warm me up in a nova's glow

And drop me down to the dream below

'Cause I'm only a crack in this castle of glass

Hardly anything there for you to see

For you to see

\- Castle of Glass, Linkin Park

* * *

As if being hit by a truck, Marc woke up screaming.

His body flew up and hazel eyes snapped open to the pain that waited for him, by instinct Marc groaned and tried to relax his tense body. His heart fluttered rapidly in his chest as Marc forced himself to calm down.

Taking in a heavy breath, he looked around his surroundings and tensed up again.

It was plainly obvious that he was in a hospital room, yet this wasn't like any room he had ever seen. There were no windows, no chairs, and looked like to be no bathroom. Instead there was only the bed he was lying on and a single entrance door.

Where was he?

Marc knocked off the blankets that were covering him and swung his legs around, his feet touched the cold hard ground causing a shiver to run up his spine. The brown-haired spy began to walk, his movements seeming not like his own, then, all of a sudden he froze feeling a jerking force in his arm. Marc looked back at his arm and sighed. Of course he didn't see the IV cord connected to him, apparently Marc wasn't as aware as he wanted to be. He followed the IV cord up and saw it was connected to an immovable machine, guess he wasn't going anywhere for a while.

Sighing tiredly, Marc hopped back on his bed and lied down; instead of figuring out where he was, he decided to think about how he got here.

Marc closed his eyes and thought hard… what had happened before he got here?

Clenching onto the hospital gown he was wearing with his hand, Marc breathed in as memories began to awaken. Yes, it was all coming back to him now. Jerry had given them a mission to catch and secure a strange creature that was loose in a genetics lab… they got to the lab and saw that… that thing… then, Tony, Lee, and Megan were all… were… Oh God…

"Tony!" Marc shouted out as he jumped up, not getting a response. "Lee!" He tried again, determined to get some kind of answer but alas the silence stayed.

"Megan!" His voice was filled with desperation. Against everything he has fought, everything that he's been through, the one thing Marc never wanted to be was alone. "Megan! Tony! Lee!" And what about them? His family, they were alright - right?

"…" Silence. Nothing but pure deadly silence.

Marc scrunched up his legs to his chest and sighed. Where were his brothers? Where was his sister? What happened to them? Did they possibly… No! He couldn't think of such thoughts! Shaking his head, letting light brown hair become messier, the spy put his forehead to his knees and sighed painfully.

"Marc?"

The 13-year-old cringed. Who had said that? He lifted himself from his knees and stood back up, ignoring the coldness. He looked around then looked straight ahead to see the shocked face of his sister, Megan.

She stood in the doorway, her face displaying astonished happiness and without warning, she rantowards Marc and wrapped her arms around his frail form, making him stumble a bit. Her mouth smothered into his shoulder so he could hardly hear what she was saying.

"Oh Marc! I'm so glad… we were…"

Cautiously wrapping his own arms around her, Marc smiled and said, "I've missed you too."

"Megan, why'd you run off like that?" A voice came from the doorway, "You could've-" Lee and Tony walked in and gasped. They didn't hesitate to join in the hug, but unsuspectingly made Marc stumble again, causing all of them to dog pile on the brown-haired spy's bed.

They laughed together and got off of Marc, allowing the boy to have some space.

"Dude, its so good to see you awake!" Tony hollered.

"Glad to be awake." Marc laughed looking at all his siblings, "It really is nice to see you all again."

"Nice to see you too, little brother," Lee snickered as he ruffled Marc's hair, "but in the future don't scare us like that again. We were actually worried about you."

"Like you aren't already." Marc retorted with a smirk, pulling away from Lee's grip.

"Seriously, bro," Lee said his tone of voice turning serious, "we really thought we had lost you…" The room turned an eerie silent; everyone's smile turned into a frown. They were all remembering what had happened, except for Marc, he was still trying to recollect the events of the mission.

"What – what happened back there?" Marc suddenly asked, his face giving off his nervousness. The three Clark siblings flinched and their frowns deepened. "Where are we? How did I get here?" He kept asking hoping to get some answers. Yet, everything remained so silent, so terribly silent that it hurt.

"You're in the WOOHP Treatment Center." The voice of Jerry explained as he walked in. The Clark family turned around and said exclaimed together, "Jerry!"

"Hello spies." He said casually then focused on the boy on the bed, "And hello to you, Marc. Are you feeling any better?" "Well, how was I feeling before?" Marc asked with an edge in his voice. "Was it bad?"

Jerry sighed a bit and looked at the 13-year-old spy. "It actually was, Marc." A part of him regretted telling the boy this, but the truth had to be spoken.

Taking off the burden on his shoulder, Jerry continued, "Marc, you were near death when we found you and your siblings." Marc took in a sharp breath. "You had evidence of a high voltage shock and multiple cuts, burns, as well as a few broken bones to your body, we had to put you in the WOOHP Healing Chamber just to make sure that you were able to live through this…" Jerry put his hand to his forehead and groaned, "I cannot say how sorry I am for this spies. This type of mission was meant for more experienced operatives and I should've known, I put you all at high risk and nearly got one of you killed… I am terribly, terribly sorry."

All remained still, the atmosphere gained weight.

"Well, as long as I'm still alive, everything is alright." Marc smiled lightly.

"As long as we all are still alive," Megan corrected, glaring playfully at Marc, "everything will be alright, but Marc what happened?"

Marc looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"She means what happened after we all passed out!" Tony said, curiosity blooming in his face. Officially, as of right now, everyone's ears were wide open. They closed a bit more in on the brownhaired boy and listened closely to his tale.

"Well… actually…I can't remember." Marc innocently said, feeling a bit embarrassed. "The only thing I can remember is the fact that I used my grappling hook and tied that monster up, then it escaped and… and…" Marc slowly raised his hand to his head, he couldn't remember a thing.

"And what?" Tony asked.

"I-I don't know…" Marc confessed, "I just can't remember a thing."

Jerry made a knowledgeable humming sound. "Well Marc, we need to know what happened back at the lab."

"Why?"

"Because that creature, the one I sent you all to capture, is officially dead."

Marc gasped. "We're still trying to figure out what killed it but it's body biology and chemistry is a little – no, a lot different from what we're use to investigating." Jerry then snapped his fingers and added, "I almost forgot to ask you this. Marc, a few tanks were found broken in the lab while we were searching it. The essences in the tanks are unfortunately still unknown to us, but we're trying to figure that out now, but we can't know what was in there without the scientists help."

"Scientists?" Megan asked.

"Yes, the people who made that creature," Jerry said grimly, "Unfortunately they ran off as soon as we caught wind of their illegal experiments."

"Jer," Lee said cautiously, "why are you telling us this?"

"…" Jerry took in a breath and said, "Because there is the possibly that you all might have been affected by whatever was in those tanks." The Clark siblings gasped. Suddenly Jerry smiled and said reassuringly, "But then again, if you all were affected then the symptoms would've shown by now."

"By now? How long have I been in here?" Marc asked worried.

"Not long actually," Jerry answered, "Maybe only a week."

"A week!" Marc cried out, anxiety instantly taking hold of his being, "That means I've missed tons of tests!"

"… School? That's what you're worried about?" Tony snickered.

"I'm probably falling behind in my grades right now!"

Megan began to laugh. "Same old Marc, only caring about his grades!"

"Relax, bro," Lee laughed, "we had one of those plant clones take your place while you were… asleep."

Marc calmed down a bit and turned to Jerry, "So Jer, can I leave this place?"

Jerry thought about this for a while. Sure the spy looked all right on the outside but what was going on inside of him? Jerry knew that there needed to be more blood work, several more tests and 24/7 surveillance; he only needed to take the necessary precautions that were needed. Considering that no one knew what had happened in the lab and every security camera was broken, the mystery of what happened and how Marc got his life threatening injuries is still a mystery needing to be solved.

Although…

Jerry smiled and nodded, "Of course, Marc, you can go home today." The Clark siblings all cheered. "But first we need to take your IV out, get your clothes, and make sure everything is alright with-"

Marc sighed yet smiled, he didn't exactly pay attention to what Jerry was saying after he gave him the approval to go home. Being out of it for a week damaged part of his awareness but he was just glad to be alive and with his family again, although the gap in his memory was only frustrating him more and more… what had happened at the lab? And why did Marc keep having the feeling that he needed to tell Jerry something… something that was really important…

"Marc. Marc? Are you paying attention?" Jerry asked.

Marc flinched and smiled, "Of course, Jer."

...

After a while, the Clark siblings finally left the WOOHP Treatment Center, unfortunately what they didn't count on was how long they had been in there.

It was already night and by the time the Clark sibs got home, their mother was beyond the word pissed. "TONY, MEGAN, AND LEE CLARK! DO YOU KNOW WHAT TIME IT IS!" Their mother shouted, anger leaking from her voice. "YOU ALL WERE SUPPOSE TO BE HOME SEVERAL HOURS AGO!"

Lee held up his hands in a defensive position and said, "Mom, our teachers kept us late after school… we're terribly sorry we got home so late though." He saw the recognition brighten in her face as a little anger left her.

"What were you all doing after school?"

"Cleaning!" Megan said.

"Leftover homework!" Tony said.

"… Football practice." Lee said a bit late. "We have different teachers." He added seeing the confusion in his mother's expression.

She sighed then said, "Alright then, just try to be home earlier next time. I mean, Marc's just up in his room finishing his own homework, maybe you all can learn a lesson from him."

"Yah… in his room…" Tony snickered but quickly stopped when Megan elbowed him in the ribs.

…

Outside in the dark, Marc was jumping over their backyard fence to get into his room. Since the clone Marc was already in there, it would be pretty weird too see another Marc waltzing in with his siblings. So, instead, he was outside in the night sneaking through the bushes and running through the grass.

 _There!_ He thought with a smile, looking up at the window that led to his room.

He quickly ran over to a tree he could climb and heard a fearsome growl.

Marc looked behind him and cringed. Growling fiercely was a full-grown German Shepherd, its fangs bared and saliva dripping down from its mouth. The dog took one step forward and began barking, instantly Marc panicked.

" _Shush!_ Nice doggie, nice doggie," he whispered, "You wouldn't want me to get caught would you?" Carefully extending his hand to the dog, Marc tried a gentle approach to silence it, but the German Shepherd snapped at his hand, missing the flesh by just an inch. Marc took a step back as the dog continued to bark.

Marc grunted, this dog just wouldn't stay quiet. He outstretched his hand but the dog only snapped it at again.

"What's going on out there!" Someone shouted. Marc cursed under his breath; his head was starting to hurt.

"Come on, dog, _shhhh_ …" But the dog just continued to bark endlessly.

That barking, it was starting to get really annoying…. Too annoying for Marc.

"Quiet…" He hissed, his head starting to throb but the dog didn't stop, instead its barks only grew louder.

 _Too loud…_

 _Too annoying…_

 ** _Make it shut up…_**

Marc tried to ignore the dog and walked towards the tree, his back to the German Sheppard. He clenched onto the tree and narrowed his eyes, that barking… that damn barking… That dog was going to give him away. He needed it to be quiet, needed it to shut up. Marc gritted his teeth and started to climb, his foot buried in the wood. Marc's head began to pound as he struggled to focus on climbing.

The dog followed after him and barked even louder than before, it snarled, growled, and howled. Marc jumped down from the tree, breathing harshly as his shoulders trembled and just as he was was turning around, something in his mind snapped.

" **Quiet** ** _!_** " Marc roared, his teeth bared and eyes narrowed.

The dog stopped and looked up at the human, it paused then quivered and whimpered. Marc menacingly continued to glare at the dog until it caught the message.

The German Shepherd ran away with its tail between its legs. Marc huffed and started back climbing, when he got to the window he saw his plant clone just sitting at his desk.

Marc sighed and opened the window, slipping out of the night and into the safety of his room.


	3. Chapter 3: A Spark of Reality

Violated,

So degraded,

The show has just begun.

Dominated,

By all you hated,

This will make you

ULTRAnumb.

\- Ultranumb, Blue Stahli

* * *

The teen whimpered softly and unnoticeably as pain ripped through his being. He was still asleep and yet, he could feel the agony tear right through him. Muscle ligaments tore and ripped while the muscles themselves grinded up against each other, becoming denser and stretching so far that they bled.

Bones rearranged themselves into a new order and began to harden, snapping and shifting as they forced Marc's body to grow. Hormones rapidly surged through his vessels as they forcibly enlarged themselves to pump more blood through the boy's circulation.

Marc cried out softly as his body unknowingly changed in his sleep. He jerked his head back and fell off his bed, stifling down one last scream as his body convulsed and twisted.

…

Morning light crept slowly through the curtains and into the room. Tony and Lee woke up tiredly as they yawned and jumped out of their beds. "Another school day…" Tony said tiredly, hardly awake as usual.

"Hm-hm." Lee agreed, not bothering to speak much. He turned to Marc's bed and saw that the 13- year-old was on the floor still asleep. "Tony, go wake up Marc."

"Huh? Why do I have too?" Tony asked, putting on his clothes and getting ready to go into the bathroom.

"Because… um, just do it." Lee mumbled, walking into the bathroom.

Tony sighed and walked over to Marc's unconscious body, he shook his shoulder and said, "Marc, Marc, wake up its time for school." The brown-haired child did not wake. "Marc… come on…" Tony yawned shaking his brother even harder, this time making the youth stir. "MARC!" Tony yelled in the brunette's ear.

Marc creaked open his eyes and growled lowly, Tony frowned tiredly and stood up.

"Jeez, you don't have to be grumpy about it..." The black haired boy looked down at his older brother as he sat up and yawned.

"Hm? Tony, what are you staring at?" Marc asked, his eyes half open. Tony hadn't realized that he was gazing straight at the older teen with wide eyes, at least he was fully awake now.

"Oh... nothing. Just wonderin' when Sleeping Beauty was going to wake up..."

Marc growled tiredly, "Ha ha. And I was wonderin' when Mulan was going to clean up his side of the room."

"At least I'm the badass princess," Tony said as he skidded out of the room leaving Marc alone.

The brunette yawned again and stood up instantly groaning as pain shot up his body. He cringed and grabbed his shoulder by instinct, his muscles were strangely sore and were aching like crazy – wait, correction, his whole body was aching. The spy suppressed a cry as he fell to his knees and embraced himself with both of his arms. Gritting his teeth, Marc took in harsh breaths and composed himself. The aching slowly stopped and left a dull throb in its place making the genius groan lowly under his breath.

Taking in one more breath of air, Marc stood back up and yawned, he took a guess and thought that the strange pain in his body was from him falling out of the bed. As soon as the throbbing calmed he went over to his closet and got out his clothes, looking at his regular cargo pants and blue jacket Marc felt an odd disgusted feeling whelm up inside him. Somehow when he looked at his usual attire he felt pathetic, was this really what his was wearing throughout the year?

Marc threw the clothes on the floor and looked further into his closet, the disgust growing even bigger as he found nothing good to wear. Come on, there must be something! He thought furiously until he reached the end of his wardrobes. He quickly began looking through his brother's closets and smiled, even a young genius like himself could figure out a decent fashion wardrobe.

Taking a little of Tony's clothes and a little of Lee's, using scissors and quick speed, Marc began working on a new wear.

"Tony, has Marc come down yet?" Their mother, Karen Clark asked as she looked at her watch, "It's almost time for you all to go."

"No, mom, he's probably still getting dressed." Tony answered, shoving the finishing portions of his cereal down.

"He's taking an awfully long time, are you sure he's okay up there?" Megan asked.

"Well, we found him on the floor when we woke up… but I'm sure he's fine." Lee said, grabbing his backpack and heading towards the door. "Maybe we should go, he'll be able to catch-"

"Good morning, everyone!" The cheerful voice of Marc exclaimed as he walked down the stairs with his backpack. The Clark Family took one glance at him and immediately, their mouths fell open. It didn't surprise Marc at all that they were captivated by his new look, even to himself he felt strange.

A pair of blue jeans covered his bottom half while he kept his usual shoes on. On his top half was a crimson shirt that had black claw mark colors running from every direction, over the shirt was a black jean jacket that stopped at his torso; the sleeves looked to be torn off and ripped, exposing Marc's bare arms. To add to his devilish new attire, a pair a midnight leather, finger-less gloves hid his palms.

Megan stepped towards the genius and examined his new image. "M-Marc, you look-"

"Stunning? Fabulous? Superb?" Marcus substituted with a smirk on his face.

"No, well yes, but also different." Megan returned his smirk with one of her own, "So… who are you and what have you done with the real Marc?"

Marc laughed. "What? You don't like the new look?"

"Not that we don't like it." Tony snickered, "I actually think it's an improvement!" Marc groaned but kept his smile.

"It's a good change from your normal look!" Lee chuckled as he patted Marc on the back. Suddenly their father, Cal Clark, walked in and immediately laid eyes on his son. He stared for a while and let his morning expression fall; he stared and stared but finally grabbed his car keys and said quietly to himself.

"I must be still drowsy." Karen handed the siblings their lunches and gave them goodbye hugs. "Come on kids, you don't want to be late for school." Cal said as the Clark siblings followed him out the door and into the car.

…

Needless to say that Marc's new appearance captured everyone's eyes at school; the students, the teachers, even a few other staff members who hardly knew the boy were surprised by his new attire. But if that didn't catch everyone's attention, then the slight bigger build he had did.

Marc didn't exactly notice that his body seemed a bit tougher until after P.E when he bench-pressed two times his usual standard. In truth, he didn't pay much attention to it.

By the time lunch had begun, Marc was beginning to feel that same soreness in his body but it was strangely focused on his head. Everything seemed almost too clear for him, so clear that it was beginning to hurt. He heard too many cell phones go off and distant screams were shouting in his strangely sensitive ears, every seat that moved to every bird that flapped its wings, he heard it all too clearly.

The overwhelming smells weren't easy to deal with either. The terrible scents of sweat from the gym found its way into his nose, but the stench of the cafeteria food was what made him want to retch.

And then there were the urges. Yes, urges. Marc couldn't explain them even if he tried. He hated the unnatural feeling that welled inside of him. Marc had thought that he was just hungry, considering that he missed breakfast, but after he had finished his lunch the feeling just didn't go away. He couldn't even describe how he felt it was just… repulsive and weird and hunger. Almost as if something was squirming around in him, Marc sat back in his seat and exhaled, how was he going to make this feeling go away?

"Marc? You okay?" The voice of Lee asked as he approached his little brother.

Marc softly nodded and smiled. "You sure? You look a little down about something."

"I'm fine," Marc stated, "just a bit hungry." Lee sat down next to him and placed his lunch in front of him, allowing the smells to flow through the air.

"Well, if you want you can have my fries or carrots, whichever one you prefer."

Lee offered, pushing his tray of food towards Marc. The 13-year-old looked over the tray and smiled, he grabbed at Lee's burger and immediately started eating it.

"Hey, wait that's mine!" Lee shouted in protest but was completely ignored. Marc continued to gobble down the burger until there was nothing left, he leaned back again, smiled and sighed.

"Thanks, Lee." He said gratefully as he stood up and left, leaving the older Clark to his smaller portions. Lee looked sadly down at his lunch and sighed. "I thought Marc was a vegetarian..." He said quietly to himself. "Now what am I going to eat...?"

…

After school finally ended, nothing was getting any better. The urges had come back and this time with a vengeance, it was actually hurting as if something was clawing at his insides. Marc huffed as he walked through the hallways to get out of the school. If the aching pain all over his body wasn't enough to agitate him then it was what he saw around the corner that infuriated him beyond all levels of anger.

Stopping frozen in his tracks, Marc's gaze landed upon three older class kids, eighth grades he guessed, that were messing around with a smaller boy – wait, messing around would be too small of a word. Bullying, yes, that's the word he was looking for, Marc looked past the eighth grade bullies to whom they were terrorizing and realized that it was Tony.

Taking one step forward, the genius felt something in him awaken, and he gladly took it in and embraced it.

Tony must've seen Marc coming because when the youngest Clark called out his brother's name and alerted the bullies of Marc's presence he began to struggle to get free of their grip.

Of course Marc understood why Tony was acting so defenseless against his attackers, it was all because he had to protect his identity of being a spy, if the 12-year-old had actually beaten up three eighth graders then that would rouse some suspicion. But, nevertheless, this didn't mean that Marc couldn't intervene…

"Is that your geeky brother?" The first tall bully scoffed, putting Tony roughly down. "Maybe he has some more money than you did." He slowly began to approach the brown-haired boy as his two companions followed after him. "So nerd, do you want to make this hard or easy?"

"…" Marc didn't answer right away, instead the smile on his face turned into a vicious smirk as he turned to his little brother. "Tony, I'm going to tell you about an interesting experiment, so pay attention. Okay?"

"What?" Tony repeated, not so sure about what was going to happen next.

"It's called Schrödinger's Cat, it was a thought experiment related to the specifics of quantum physics."

"Quantum phys-waz?"

Marc nodded and turned back to the bullies. "Ignoring us, eh? You think just because you dropped out of your geek wear that you can do whatever you want?"

The first bully seethed as he rose his fist and rocketed towards Marc, "You're dead, you little-"

At that moment, time froze. The fist that the eighth grader had thrown at Marc was easily caught in his hand, the eighth grader pulled back his fist but found it hard to get out of Marc's grip. The brown haired boy smiled as he glided pulled on the fist and got in the bully's face.

Marc's eyes flashed a dangerous intent as he sneered, "You see, a physicist and theoretical biologist named Erwin Schrödinger developed an interesting theory on the state of being." Swiftly, Marc kneed the boy in the stomach and abruptly threw a clenched hand into his face. The two other bullies responded immediately. They charged towards Marc and attempted to grab him but he smoothly dodged it and grabbed the second bully by his arms.

"Schrödinger illustrated that the quantum mechanical concept of superposition, the ability of a sub- microscopic object to exist in many different states, or occupy many different places, all at once..." With all his strength, Marc lifted the eighth grader and slammed him down on the floor, knocking him unconscious. "And that's how Schrödinger's thought experiment began."

Marc smirked and glared up at the last vulnerable eighth grader, Marc carefully stood back up and smiled softly, "He took a cat and placed it in a box with a radioactive atom, a Geiger counter and a flask of prussic acid, that's a type of poison." Marc amusingly watched the older teen try to hide his fear.

"Tony, assume that, within an hour, the atom will decay to produce an alpha particle. When the Geiger counter detects the alpha particle, it releases a hammer, which breaks the glass and releases the poison. The cat will have died, right? Well, according to quantum physics, the cat will die only if an observer looks into the box."

"Really?" Tony bellowed, shocked as his brother stood completely still in the face of the last bully.

Within seconds Marc was already close enough to the third bully to knock him out swiftly and quietly. The brown haired spy looked down at the three unconscious bullies and smirked, he then turned to Tony, who was standing impressed against the wall, and asked, "So, what exactly happened to the cat, Tony?"

Tony thought about this for a second then smiled and shouted, "Knock out! It was completely and utterly knocked out cold!"

Marc laughed and walked towards his little brother, putting his arm around his shoulder Marc said, "Actually the cat is confirmed to be both dead and alive, but that works too!"

Tony groaned but kept his smile. The two Clarks took one step and the floor below them vanished, sending the both of them falling down a dirty tunnel.


	4. Chapter 4: A White Lie

My hands

Don't wanna start again

My hands

No they don't wanna understand

My hands

They just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find

\- My Hands, Leona Lewis

* * *

Falling down a sewage seemed like a water slide compared to getting WOOHPED.

As fast as Tony and Marc dropped down a series of pipelines, they soon collided with Megan and Lee and shortly collapsed onto a sofa. The Clarks groaned in sync as they straightened themselves up and sat back into the sofa. "Ah, hello spies." Jerry smiled.

"Hey, Jer." Lee said, "So, what's up?"

"Another insidious plot by-" Jerry stopped abruptly as he stared at Marc and absorbed his new look. "Marc, you look… different."

Marc blinked and was about to respond to Jerry's statement but was quickly interrupted by Tony. "He just doesn't look different, he's acting different too! Just a minute ago he totally beat-"

"Beat you at a race!" Marc quickly interrupted, holding his younger brother back from saying anything more. "I beat him at a race and now he owes me five dollars."

Tony struggled to get free of Marc's grasp but soon the brown-haired boy let him go and glared daggers at him. Tony didn't understand, why didn't Marc want him to tell everyone about what happened? Tony stared back up at Marc and sighed.

Jerry stared at the Clarks for a second then said, "Ah, alright then, nice outfit, Marc." The genius smiled and Jerry turned serious once again, "Anyways, another insidious plot by Tim Scam has been found out." Jerry said, turning serious.

"Tim who?" Megan asked.

"Tim Scam, he's a criminal mastermind who use to be a WOOHP employee. Unfortunately, he recently escaped from prison and is up to his no good tricks again." Explained Jerry, "His hideout is located in Denver, Colorado and he needs to be stopped immediately."

"So, we stop whatever he's planning and capture him?" Lee asked.

"Exactly and here are your new gadgets to help you do so." Jerry pressed a button and a slide in table appeared with a line of strange items displayed on it. Picking up one of the object, Jerry began to explain each of the gadget's functions and handed them over to the spies as they changed into their spy suits. "Good luck, spies and watch out. Tim Scan isn't a villain to take lightly, he's very well dangerous and cunning so be careful."

Pressing another button, the spies fell down a hole and disappeared from Jerry's sight.

The old man lied back in his chair and exhaled. "Acting different?"

…

After flying to Denver, the spies landed on a mountainside as they watched their jet fly away on autopilot. "Where are we?" Tony asked as he shivered.

"The Rocky Mountains," Marc answered as he took out his scanner and looked over the snow covered area around them, "Whoever this Tim Scam is, he picked a good place for a hideout, it'll be hard to catch a hint of anything living under all this snow."

"So, basically we're going to be searching out here in the cold for hours?" Tony whined.

"Now I didn't say I couldn't track him." Marc retorted with a smirk. He took a couple of steps forward then put his scanner away and stared at a wall of snow in front of him. He patted the snow wall and thought.

"Found anything, bro?" Lee asked, walking towards the genius. Marc nodded and pointed towards a spot on the wall of snow.

"Yes actually. Kick right here, Lee." Marc instructed, taking a step back.

"But won't the snow fall on me if I do?" Lee asked suspiciously.

Marc smirked and answered, "Probably but that's why I'm standing away from you."

Lee grumbled but aimed for the spot Marc had pointed at and kicked it, suddenly the ground began to shake. The spies stumbled but quickly regained their footing as the layers of snow below them caved in. Before the spies fell they activated the rockets on their boots and flew out of the collapsing zone.

"Was that supposed to happen?" Megan asked as the blizzard-like wind blew through her hair. Below them a white type of smog hid the mountainside out of plain site until it cleared and revealed a giant metal trap door.

"Yes, yes it was." Marc smirked. The spies flew down into the opening and soon felt the cold dissipate from around them, they flew down deeper into the lair and gasped, all of them in clear shock at what they saw.

There were corridors of thousands of tunnels all around them, as if they were trapped in a beehive the Clarks felt enclosed and confused.

"I've never seen so many tunnels in my life." Tony exclaimed, his mouth gapped open in surprise.

"Tony, you're only eleven, your life hasn't exactly been long." Megan said.

"Oh ya…" Tony grumbled. "So, which ones do we go through?"

"…" Lee looked around and sighed, "I think its best that we split up. We'll cover more ground – or tunnels – if we do," he turned to his siblings and continued, "Marc and Tony, you two cover those tunnels over there. Megan and I will check out the tunnels over here, if either of you find Tim Scam then call us." The two boys nodded and flew away into the maze of tunnels.

A flash of hot air immediately hit Marc and Tony as they entered and flew down the middle of the strange tunnel. "It looks likes some kind of carrier," Marc said as he analyzed the walls and ceilings above them, "There's no walkway anywhere and the tunnel itself looks big enough for a jet or plane to fly through… the walls look like they're made of-"

"Hey Marc." Tony interrupted, flying a little closer to his brother. "Why did you stop me from telling Jerry about that fight?"

If nothing else, Marc was actually surprised by what Tony was asking but he somehow did see this coming.

He looked into the 12-year-old's eyes and calmly answered him, "Its quite simple why I stopped you, bro, you see if you told then-" Suddenly Marc stopped mid-sentence and inhaled a sharp breath. He felt abnormally empty right at that moment and as he searched his mind for the answer, he came up with nothing. Why had he stopped Tony from telling anyone? Was it because it seemed out of character for him and Jerry would probably be suspicious again? Because it was of no relevance? Or was it something much bigger? Something he was missing?

As a result, he came up with no answer.

"Then what, Marc?" Tony asked impatiently.

Marc hadn't noticed that he had gone into a daze, he turned back to Tony, smiled and said, "Then I would've been suspended from school for picking a fight." It was just an excuse, just one excuse. "I mean, even if I was fighting in your defense I would've still been in trouble." Just one little white lie won't hurt.

"You were afraid of getting in trouble?" Tony scoffed with a smile, "Dude, no one was going to tell on you!" He began laughing and soon Marc joined in, feeling a smidge of guilt for going along with this little occurrence.

"I suppose you wouldn't." Marc laughed, "But lets keep this between ourselves, okay?"

Tony nodded and started to quiet down his laughter.

Marc kept looking at his little brother, his eyes darkening, and mentally smirked. So easy, too easy to manipulate, a voice spoke in the back of Marc's mind. Marc blinked and quickly shook his head, recognition returned to his eyes as he looked back over to Tony.

What was that? Sure Tony was naïve but to manipulate him and feel proud of it was another thing, why was he-

Suddenly Marc flinched and held his arm out to block Tony from any further movement. Tony looked up at Marc and gave him a 'What?' kind of expression to which Marc answered by silencing him.

"You don't hear that?" Marc whispered as he scooted them over to the side of the rough walls. Tony shook his head and looked forward into the endless abyss of the tunnel, he then looked up at his brother and saw that Marc was focused entirely on what he couldn't hear. Marc let go of Tony and began to motion him forward, heading towards the exit of the strange tunnel. Soon Tony began to hear something, a laughter of some sort… and clanking?

As the light at the end became closer to them, the brothers acted stealthy.

Keeping to the wall, the two spies glanced around the corner and gasped in surprise. Outside the tunnel was a whole lab of machines filled with technology, beakers, and aviations, but there, standing in the middle of the lab, was a middle-aged man with chestnut brown hair. He looked to be working on some kind of machine and hadn't noticed the spies presence just yet.

"So, do we take him out from above or just surprise him by a knock out?" Tony smirked.

Marc smiled and said, "How about a combination of both?" And so, as if they were reading each others, the two brothers swooped down on Tim and were inches away from knocking him out, at least, that would've happened if a pair of metal hands hadn't had grabbed hold of them.

The spies began struggling to break free of the robot's tight grip but to no avail, its grip was too strong.

"You thought you could sneak up on me?" Tim snickered as he turned around and faced the brothers. "I have to admit, nice try but your stealth skills are still at an amateur level."

"Who are you calling an amateur?" Tony shouted in protest.

"Hm? Thinking on it, I don't think I've ever seen you or you before?" Tim mused, "Well allow me to introduce myself, I'm-"

"Tim Scam. A former WOOHP agent turned bad." Marc interrupted, "Sorry to tell you but we already know everything about you."

"So it seems," Tim smirked, "but if you really did, then you would know not to try to ambush me." He crept up closer to Tony and grabbed him by the chin, glaring into his eyes he hissed, "Now, why don't you tell me your name?"

Tony scoffed and turned away. Tim growled impatiently at the young boy and cupped his cheek with his hand, snapping Tony's head around. "What was your name again, dear boy?"

"Don't touch him!" Marc growled, how dare that scum touch his little brother!

Out in a rage, Marc kicked his foot into the robot and instantly regretted it. His foot bounced off the cold metal plate and began throbbing in pain.

"Ooh, looks like someone's a bit angry." Tim teased, "Now what would your name be?" Marc just glared at the villain but what he didn't know was that he had sent a distressed call to Megan and Lee, telling them of their current location.

Now all he had to do was stall…

"My name?" Marc scoffed, "How useful would that be to you?" A few minutes, that's all he needed. "And what's with your hideout being in the Rocky Mountains? Pfft some criminal mastermind you are."

"…" Scam smirked and walked over to the restrained Marc, "Just whom do you think you're talking to, boy?"

He glared Marc straight in the eyes and the brown-haired child did the same, not letting his gaze fall at this man's intimidation. Suddenly a hand impacted on his cheek and Marc cringed slightly, his head turned with the movement and his flesh turned a bright red.

"Learn some respect." Scam hissed with a satisfied sneer plastered on his features. Marc growled lowly at the villain and glared back at him, his eyes narrowed dangerously. "Hey! Let go of my brothers!" Suddenly an explosion sounded through the air and a fog cloud covered everyone's vision.

Tony and Marc began coughing as the smog clouded into their lungs, they heard a crashing sound behind them and before they knew it, they were freed from their metal bonds. Dropping to the ground, Tony and Marc glanced up to find Lee and Megan smiling down at them.

"Need some help?" Megan smirked.

"As if! We could've gotten him all on are on, right Marc?" Tony scoffed with a smile; he turned to his brother then realized that he was not there anymore. "Uh, Marc?"

Running through the fog, Marc huffed and took in the tainted air around him. He knew he shouldn't have just run off like that but he wasn't about to let Tim Scam go, not after this he wasn't.

Although Marc couldn't see through the haze he could still smell Scam… that disgusting scent, he could track it. Although the only thing getting in his way were a bunch of annoying machines and stray robots but he easily took them out with a smirk on his face.

That feeling… that strange feeling he got when he fought those eighth graders was back and like before, he didn't bother to suppress it. Why would he? It felt so good and… made him feel so powerful. Almost as if he was running on pure raw power. He broke the machines in his way with his fist and… something sharp that was at the edge of his nails. Wait, were those claws? If they were, he wasn't paying attention to them. It only felt oddly natural, and... Marc liked it.

All Marc wanted was Tim Scam. All he wanted was to see that scum wither under his feet. To bleed. To pay for touching his brother. To scream for daring to touch him.

Catching the scent again, Marc began to sprint until he finally caught tail of the villain. He slammed himself into Scam and knocked the both of them down.

"What the hell-" Tim shouted until he realized that Marc was holding him down.

The man struggled to get free of Marc's grasp but it was surprisingly strong.

"Let go of me!" Scam snarled, thrashing under Marc's grip.

 _Snap!_

Scam screamed out in pain as the boy broke his wrists, paralyzing his ability to move his hands.

"Now that that's done…" Marc whispered as he caressed his hand against the villain's shivering cheek and smiled sweetly. Scam shuddered in pain underneath him and Marc ravished happily in seeing this so called 'big shot' shit his pants in fear.

Raising his clawed hand, Marc happily glared down at the man and said, "Now then," his voice came out slow and soft, yet dripping acid venom, "who were you saying needed to learn _respect_?"


	5. Chapter 5: My Brother

Everywhere I turn, I hurt someone

But there's nothing I can say to change the things I've done

Of all the things I hid from you, I cannot hide the shame

And I pray someone, something will come to take away the pain

There's no way out of this dark place

No hope, no future

I know I can't be free and I can't see another way

I can't face another day

\- No Way Out, Phil Collins

* * *

"Good work spies, you've apprehended Tim Scam and stopped him from completing his plans." Jerry said as he smiled and congratulated the four children. "Wonderful job as always!" He had just arrived at Scam's hideout after Lee had called him and reported that they had Scam in custody.

"What were his plans anyways, Jer?" Megan asked.

"Oh you know the usual," Jerry sighed, "Take over the world and get revenge on WOOHP. By the equipment we found in his laboratory, I would take a guess and say that he was going to create a laser or gun of some type… but we're not quite sure…"

"Can't you ask him?" Tony asked then allowed the light bulb to click on in his head. He had just remembered that Scam was… unable to tell anyone anything at the moment. "Oh yeah…"

Jerry sighed and looked over to his right, the four spies following his gaze to look at the trembling, broken form of Tim Scam.

"K-K-Keep a-away…" The villain shuttered incoherently through chattering teeth.

He was restrained on a hospital gurney by leather straps but was carefully situated to the extent of not harming his wounded body.

All together, Tim looked terrible. His eyes were purplish and swollen to a pulsing ache and both of his wrists were broken and bloody. His legs were no better; they weren't straightened out by the influence of the restraints but instead jerked out in a deformed way to the point that you could see his shattered bones. His face portrayed the mental instability of complete fear and horror so much that it masked the cuts and bruises on his skin perfectly.

"K-K-K-Keep t-the mon-s-ster awa-y…"

Jerry looked on at the villain and sadly sighed. He had seen a lot of things in his life but seeing a super villain, one as powerful as Tim Scam, broken and terrified like that was just sad. He had never seen Scam this scared before and he wasn't exactly the easiest man to break.

What had happened to Scam to make him act like that?

"So Jerry, what'll happen to him?" Lee asked with a frown apparent on his face. The WOOHP leader snapped out of his thoughts and turned back to the spies. "Oh well, we'll have to get his injuries treated as quickly as we can, he seems to be quite… devasted so maybe I'll have to put him in a psychiatric ward instead of a jail…" He the added, "Are you all sure you have no idea how get got this damaged?"

"Sorry Jer, I wasn't around to actually see Scam that well." Megan confessed.

"I was with Megan the whole time so your guess is as good as mine." Tony sighed.

"Don't look at me." Marc said, "I don't know how he got that way either."

"What about you, Lee?" Jerry asked, "Do you know what happened?" Lee looked down at his feet and didn't move. He was too deep in thought to actually hear Jerry say anything more. "Lee?" He called out his name again and this time Lee heard him.

The older Clark flinched and looked up at the WOOHP leader. "I-I-" He stuttered for a second then finally said, "I don't know what happened to him."

"Hm… alright then, I'll arrange for transportation to get you all home in time before your parents realize you weren't there." Jerry smiled and turned around but not before remembering what he needed to tell the Clarks. "Oh, yes I almost forgot!" He exclaimed turning back to the spies, "We've found one of the scientists who were in charge of the lab earlier today. He's refusing to talk about the experiments that involved that creature but we'll get him to talk!"

"That's great, Jer!" Megan smiled.

"Indeed it is." He said while walking away.

Lee swallowed the dry saliva in his throat and cringed at the hand that had touched his shoulder.

He turned around to face Marc who was smiling cunningly and said, "It really is great, bro. It's great that you know when to speak and when not to." His eyes narrowed as they glared into Lee's own confused and angry orbs.

Marc snickered and walked away. Lee looked on at Marc from behind and mentally cursed at his brother's own deceitfulness.

 _Lee flew through the foggy mist with haste; he called out Marc's name several times but received no response back. He was afraid that Scam had got him but that was highly unlikely, Marc was smart as well as cunning in these types of situations and the likelihood of him ever falling for a villain's trap was significantly low. But still…_

 _"Marc! Where are you!" He cried out again, lowering down to the floor to walk instead. He looked around densely but unfortunately could hardly see through the heavy fog. Perhaps he and Megan overdid it with the smoke bombs… "Marc! Where are-" Lee squealed as he fell down and slammed onto the floor. Moaning he stood back up to see what tripped him, Lee looked behind himself and saw that it was a stray-torn robot mechanism._

 _From those robots? He thought, picking the object up then allowing it to fall back on the ground. Lee walked on slowly as he looked down and saw multiple torn robots scattered across the floor._ _He walked around every single piece but then stopped as one lone robot part caught his attention._

 _He picked up the scrap of metal and examined it. Like all the other stray pieces, it was torn and of no use but this one was different. It had claw marks on it. Faint yet totally noticeable claw marks. Who could've-_

 _Then that's when he heard it. A scream. A blood curdling, agony tearing scream._

 _Lee flinched at its tone but instinctively began running. Who's scream was that? Marc's? Scam's? Megan's? Tony's? He couldn't tell right away but he could follow it. The scream inched up a volume as Lee ran faster, determined to find out what was happening. He allowed the scream to guide him in the right direction as it grew louder… painfully louder. I'm close, Lee thought picking up his speed. Just a bit more… almost there… In the distance he could see the faint, shadowy of his little brother and… someone else? Who was that?_

 _"Marc!" He yelled out one more time as his brother and the stranger came into a clear view. He smiled lightly then let his small joy fall into complete horror._

 _The smile quickly turned into a frown as the screams of Tim Scam echoed throughout his hearing, but that wasn't the only thing he heard. There was another voice… and this one wasn't in any type of pain, in fact it was gleeful and cheery. A cackling, terrifying laughter that edged into Scam's own screams crinkled the atmosphere. But that wasn't what was scaring Lee. What really had him scared was the fact that Marc was the one laughing. He was the one indulging in Scam's cries of pain. He was the one on top of Scam causing him pain by punching him multiple times in the face. He was the one laughing like a mad man… he was…_

 _"Marc, get off of him!" Lee cried out, seeing Scam's broken, shivering form. He ran to his brother and knocked him off, causing Marc to fall to the floor. Lee looked down at the trembling Scam and gasped, there was blood everywhere on his face and his jaw looked out of place. Had Marc broke his mandible? The villain tried to speak but only incoherent mumblings and gasps slid out of his disfigured mouth._

 _Suddenly a hand out reached to Lee's collar, grabbed it and yanked him in the air, before Lee knew it he was looking into the angry face of his little brother. "Marc…"_

 _"Why did you interrupt me?" Marc hissed, holding his brother higher in the air._

 _Lee looked down on Marc and frown angrily._

 _"What do you mean by that?" Lee spat, "If you kept going you would've seriously hurt him!"_

 _"That was the whole point." Marc retorted, baring his teeth in an animalistic way._

 _"Why would you do that?" Lee asked, struggling to get out of his brother's grip that was shockingly strong, "I thought you were the smart one! So why are you headstrong on hurting him!"_

 _"He deserved it," Marc snarled, inching his face closer to Lee's._

 _Lee gulped and slowly reached for a gadget in the back of his suit. "Why though?"_

 _"He touched Tony," Marc answered, "and hurt me."_

 _"You never seemed to care in the past." Got it! Lee waited for the right moment to use the gadget. It wasn't going to hurt Marc. Lee would never hurt his own brother._

 _"..." Marc brought Lee's face even closer to his and snarled, "Because it was only until now that I could smell just how rank these villains actually are."_

 _"But would happen if you seriously hurt him?"_

 _"I-"_

 _Without hesitation, Lee brought his hand to Marc's face and pressed his thumb to his palm. A hissing sound rolled as a pinkish gas released itself from Lee's hand. Marc coughed and gagged as he inhaled the gas. His body flinched as Lee thought Marc was going to let him go._

 _In a frightening turn of events, Marc lifted his brother higher, unleashed something of a mix between a feral roar and scream and threw Lee down on the ground hard. Lee moaned but quickly jumped back to his feet, he took in a sharp breath and mentally gasped._

 _There, looking down on him was his younger brother. When did Marc get taller? Lee thought, his heart starting to race._

 _With his teeth gritted and eyes narrowed dangerously down at the elder Clark, Marc took one step towards Lee and hissed, "I wasn't trying to hurt him," his face was now an inch away from Lee's own and he could've sworn he saw Marc's eyes flash golden, "I was trying to kill him."_

 _Lee felt his breath hitch in his throat. Kill? No – he had to have misheard. Marc wouldn't kill anyone. He couldn't kill anyone! Lee came back into the world and looked deep into the eyes of his little brother, there was something off about him… something about him that wasn't right… Marc growled at the teen, his teeth still bared and began to walk past the older Clark, completely ignoring everything he tried to do._

 _"Don't ever get in my way again, bro," Marc growled, not bothering to glance over his shoulder, "Or else there'll be hell to pay. Do what you want with that scum of a villain, I'm done with him…" And so he left._

 _Lee didn't turn around to see if Marc was still behind him because he already knew he wasn't. Lee looked down at his hand and saw it tremble lightly. Did Marc actually… scare me? He thought, feeling his heartbeat return to a normal pace. Lee gulped then activated his (I have no idea what his communication gadget is called, sorry…) and spoke softly, "Hey Jer, we got him…"_

"Hey Lee! You coming or what!" Shouted Tony as he waved from the jet plane that he was on. Lee snapped out of his thoughts and smiled lightly.

"Um yah…" He felt for the metal slashed piece he had stored in his back pocket and shouted, "I'm coming! Don't leave without me!" He raced towards the jet the rest of the Clarks were on and grinned.

"KIDS! TIME TO TURN YOUR LIGHTS OFF!" Announced Karen Clark as she walked down the hallway of her children's rooms. "GOODNIGHT!"

"Goodnight!" Megan shouted.

"Goodnight!" Lee shouted.

"Goodnight!" Tony and Marc said at the same time. The lights soon fell and darkness clouded the Clarks home. Everything was silent, everyone was quickly asleep, and no one was stirring except for a certain young genius.

Marc tossed and turned in his bed, not because of Tony's loud snoring but because of the agony that tore through his being. He hissed and groaned, it was hurting… his whole body was hurting, like it was on fire! Marc's eyes snapped open as he clutched his chest and shivered violently. Cold and heat traded places in his body then mixed together into a strange painfully neutral feeling, muscles ached in sync and the disgusting feeling of having his skin in between the state of sweating heavily and stretching sickened his already bending stomach.

The pre-teen muffled down a scream with his pillow and slowly sat up and crawled out of his bed, careful not to wake his little brother. He wheezed and moaned, unbearable painful pressure building inside of his body. What was happening to him? Why was he in so much pain? He needed relief… he needed release. He needed out. Marc stumbled to the sides then set his eyes on the window, his eyes went wide as he reached for the doorway to euphoria and shuddered.

Marc didn't hesitate to open the window. He flinched for a second as the cold night air pierced his lava, sweating skin. Wind. The beautiful wind felt so good on his searing body. It carried so many scents on it… so many wonderful smells… he wanted to know what they were. He wanted to know and be released from the pain of his unknowingly changing body.

Growling, Marc hurdled himself over the ceil of the window, jumped and landed on the ground on all fours. Thunderous pain rocketed up his body as he finally released the scream he had been holding back for too long. Standing back up to his two feet, Marc began to run. Running seemed like the only thing he could do to relinquish himself of his strange aches. Marc ran as fast as his legs could go and somehow, that wasn't enough.

He didn't know when, but Marc was now running on all fours, like it was natural.

Though, Marc knew this couldn't be possible. The human spine wasn't meant to bend like an animal's - no, truly it wasn't. And yet, Marc didn't care. He denied the laws of physiology and followed his instincts.

He felt his heart pound against his rib cage and his breaths come out harshly and wildly. His eyes cut through the night, possessing and taming the cold air and sparkling stars. Marc continued to run, and run he shall.

He ran and ran and ran so much that he forgot how to walk too soon.

As morning light crept into the room, Tony yawned and scratched himself. With his eyes barely open he got out of bed and noticed that his brother's bed was empty. He blinked one then twice, slightly unfazed by the disappearance.

He started walking towards the bathroom but froze in place when he heard gagging sounds come from the other side. He leaned his ear against the door and listened closely. Yep – those were defiantly gagging sounds and… wheezing? Tony reached for the doorknob, twisted it, opened the door and gasped. His eyes widened in complete horror and shock as his drowsiness all together vanished from his being.

Hunched over the toilet was Marc, gagging, wheezing and coughing wildly. Sweat drenched his normally tidy hair and poured down his pale-ish skin, his eyes were clenched tight as he lunged down deeper into the toilet, spitting up whatever substance was in his mouth.

Tony ran to Marc and quickly pulled his hair back, keeping it out of Marc's way.

The genius turned slightly to see Tony and opened his eyes but just barely, Tony flinched. Marc's hazel eyes were glazed over and clouded with misery, he truly looked sick but that wasn't what made Tony flinch. On Marc's face and everywhere around the toilet and himself was blood.

Pure crimson liquid stained everywhere. Tony looked down and caught a glance at Marc's hands; those too were caked with dry blood. "M-Marc, are you okay?" Tony asked, seeing Marc regurgitate a mixture of blood, saliva, and stomach acid.

Marc lifted his head a bit and whispered. "N-No… oh god no…" He dove back in and puked again. Tony could feel his brother's body reflex to the process, his back arching and stomach flexing. "No, no, no, no…"

Tony brought his face closer to Marc's and mentally cringed. He hadn't noticed the small tears that flowed down Marc's face…

"What happened?" He asked. Marc didn't answer at first. His body was aching from the forced stress and his insides felt as if they were being scrambled. He went into a coughing fit and gagged up more blood, the taste of metal searing his tongue. "Marc. What happened?" Tony asked again, concern apparent in his eyes.

"Don't… I-I ate it…" Marc moaned out, his throat beginning to constrict with physical and emotional pain.

Tony was confused. "Ate what?" He asked.

"I didn't mean to!" Marc shouted suddenly, "It just got so annoying… I didn't… I couldn't…stop myself... it was too annoying." His body began shaking again, uncontrollable sobs racking his damaged form. "Too annoying…"

"What did you eat, Marc!" Tony exclaimed, a mixture of curiosity and concern exploding inside of him.

"That dog…" Marc choked out, coughing up another gallon of blood and stomach juices.

Tony cringed and tried with all his will power not to fall backwards and let go of his brother's hair. So…all this blood is… Tony felt as if he was going to be sick himself.

"I didn't mean to… it just wouldn't shut up! It kept barking and barking and I… I – oh god, I'm sick…"

Tony woke up from his own sickening pity. "No, no you're not! You just-"

"I fucking ate a dog, Tony! A dog!" Marc growled out in between ragged pants of breath. "I ate it and-" He was cut off by his own recollection of what he had done. The dog was far from defenseless; it was the same dog from the night he returned home. It put up a fight - a big one - and yet Marc, he – he picked it up and slammed its head onto the pavement. He tore its limbs off and listened to it whimper, yelp, and cry until the very end… He didn't even want to eat the dog at first but seeing its splattered body on the concrete... the pool of shining red, insides burning with fresh scents, and its lifeless body, sightless eyes...

Oh god, he completely ate it. Flesh, cartilage and everything. He lapped up the blood, toyed with its bones and left a huge mess in his place. And the whole time he-

"Enjoyed it…" Marc finished as he dived back into the toilet. Tony felt his stomach lurch violently at his brother's declaration. Tony watched helplessly as he listened to Marc gag up the mixture of blood, tears, sweat, and saliva. _What is happening to me?_


End file.
